Print Project Space
Ali Banisadr’s (b. 1976) first print project with the gallery features two hand-coloured etchings, characterised by a dreamlike, chaotic landscape. Banisadr’s subject matter is inspired by childhood memories, imaginary scenes, the history of painting and sound. Banisadr, who was born in Tehran, Iran, has synaesthesia (the ability to experience sound visually). As a young boy during the Iran-Iraq War Banisadr would draw to create a visual understanding of the sounds of explosions and air raids. These internal noises guide his mark making on the canvas and plate to create layered compositions of disordered forms and figures.
Paul Noble's (b. 1963) second print project with the gallery, entitled Rooms with Wallpaper, relates directly to twelve drawings he has been making over the past eighteen months. These meticulous etchings with aquatint are depictions of what the artist describes as ‘sublime prisons’, which show the possibility of freedom within containment. The images portray a section of a seemingly endless room with no doors or windows; no escape, which offer us a different relationship to space and being in space. They play with the idea of foreground and background while somehow resisting being perspectival. They almost verge on the abstract with their repetition of vertical lines of graduating tonality.
New etchings and screenprints, featuring mesh patterns, by Rana Begum (b. 1977) relate to the industrial materials she uses to make reliefs and sculptures. Exhibited in the gallery for the first time, Begum’s prints continue the artist’s exploration of geometry, colour and light. Christiane Baumgartner (b.1967), who combines contemporary technology in the form of digital video and photography alongside time-honoured woodcutting techniques, has made new prints depicting the effect of sunlight and moonlight on landscape scenes.
We will exhibit works by Julian Opie (b. 1958) from his recent series New York Couples 1-8., 2019. Working in a variety of media, Opie draws inspiration from both high art, design and the vernacular; from lightbox advertising and billboard signs to nineteenth-century silhouettes and ancient Egyptian art. Using screenprinting and collage, New York Couples depict Opie’s signature walking figures. Twelve new screenprints by Michael Craig-Martin (b.1941), in a vibrant palette, include a golf ball, tennis ball, cricket ball, baseball, football and a basketball. Entitled Sports Balls, the set is presented in a portfolio box designed by the artist.
Yinka Shonibare’s CBE (b.1962) recent print portfolio was created using a complex combination of woodblock, relief printing and fabric collage. Entitled Unstructured Icons, Shonibare seeks to highlight the excesses, wealth, and power of the western world, which were so reliant on colonialism and the slave trade. Six relief prints depict iconic representatives of western power, including rulers of empire and members of the eighteenth-century aristocracy, viewed through the lens of historical paintings, such as Hans Holbein’s Portrait of Henry VIII. Clothed in ostentatious fashions and elaborately decorated wigs, the faces of the figures are concealed by West African ritual masks.
The Print Project Space presents an ongoing programme of public displays featuring prints and editions by the gallery's roster of international artists.
Artist Talk: Paul Noble
Saturday 22 February, 12 noon
Join Paul Noble for an informal talk at the gallery about his newest body of work, Rooms with Wallpaper.
Spaces are limited and allocated on a first come first served basis. Click here to book your free ticket.
